Fruit-packing apparatus.



T No. 718,308.

10 MODEL.

' A PATENTED JAN. 13,1903.

a. A; BRAUN A; w. M. SGOTT.

FRUIT PACKING APPARATUS.

APPLIOATIQH FILED JULY 21, 1902.

NirEn 'rarss ATENT OFFICE.

CARL A. BRAUN AND WILLIAM M. SCOTT, OF CUPERTINO, CALIFORNIA.

FRUIT-PACKING APPARATUS.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 718,308, dated January 13, 1903.

Application filed July 21, 1902. Serial No. 116,451. (No model.)

T0 at whom, it may concern: 7

Be it known that we, CARL A. BRAUN and WILLIAM M. SCOTT, citizens of the United States, residing at Oupertino, county of Santa Clara, State of California, have invented an Improvement in Fruit-Packing Apparatus; and we hereby'declare the following to be a full, clear, and exact description of the same.

Our invention relates to improvements in devices for packing dried fruits and the like. Its object is to provide a simple means for packing and pressing dried prunes, figs, raisins, and other fruits uniformly and expeditiously into small packages or cartons preparatory for shipment.

It consists in the construction and combination of parts to be hereinafter set forth, having reference to the accompanying drawings, in which I Figure 1 is a general view of apparatus. Fig. 2 is a generalview of a form. Fig. 3 is a general view of a holder. Fig. 4 is a general View of a paper-protecting box. Fig. 5 is a sectional view of pockets or receivers. Fig. 6 isa finished package.

A represents a stand or table of suitable construction supporting the various parts of our apparatus.

In packing dried fruits it is often desired to put them up in packages of uniform weight and size. Suppose these packages are to contain one pound each. We take one or more hopper-like holders 2, each of which is adapted to hold conveniently in its extended stem portion 3 one pound of the loose fruit, and place these holders inverted over the forms 4 upon the table. A sheet of wax-paper 5, which is to become the covering of a finmhedpackage, is folded about the stem portion of a ho ITO l? the outer end of the paper tube closed, and a three-sided metal box or shield 6, having one end open, is slipped over the paper on the holder. The box 6 serves as a protection for the paper throughout the subsequent operations of filling, compressing, and closing the other end of the paper tube after the fruit has been inserted and compressed. The holders, with the paper and shield in position, are then taken from the forms and passed to the weigher and filler, who inserts the proper amount of fruit into each. They are next placed in the pockets or recesses 7 in the table and supported in the guides 8, immediately beneath the vertically-reciprocating plungers't). Any suitable means may be employed to actuate these 'plungers. In the present instance we have shown them as pivotally hung from a cross-head 10, which is fast to the piston-rod 11, operating in an airpressure cylinder 12, of suitable construction. These plungers serve to compress the fruit into a uniform size of package. By having them pivotally hung they readily center and adjust themselves in case they strike the sides of the funnel portion of the holders on their downstroke. Having reached the end of their stroke, exhaust takes place from the cylinder and the plungers are retracted by means of a check-spring 13, having one end secured to the guide-plate 8 and the other to the stem 11. The holders containing the now-compressed fruit and still inclosed by the paper shell and shield are removed from the pockets by means of the plungers 14, operated from beneath by a foot-lever 15. The holders are then drawn out, leaving the fruit in the paper and the latter in the shield. By means of a clamp mechanism 16, operated by a foot-lever 17, the shield and its contents are held while an operator closes the end of the package, which is shown in Fig. 6 in its completed form ready for shipment.

The number of holders operated at any one time depends upon the skill of the operators.

The shape of the holders may be varied according to the desired shape of the fruitpackage, in which case the forms, shields,

guide-plate, plungers, and pockets would be made to correspond.

Having thus described our invention, what one claim, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is

1. A means for packing fruit in cartons, including a table having thereon forms by which the cartons are temporarily held ready for filling, a holder having a hollow stem portion and a flared mouth or hopper portion, said stem adapted to fit said forms and to have a coverin g for the carton passed thereover, a shield embracing said covering and having one end and one side open, a plunger, a support in which said holder is maintained in alinement with said plunger, and clamp mechanism for holding the package in the shield after the fruit is compressed and the holder withdrawn and While the open end of the covering is being closed.

2. The combination in a packing apparatus of a supporting-frame, forms thereon, holders fitting said forms and adapted to have a sheet folded thereover, a shield fitting over the end of said holder and protecting the sheet, said shield open along one side, plungers by which the fruit may be compressed in the holders, and clamps upon said frame in which a package may be held after the holder is withdrawn and while the open end of the sheet is being folded.

In Witness whereof we have hereunto set our 15 hands.

CARL A. BRAUN. WM. M. SCOTT.

WVitnesses:

W. J. (Jones, C. F. BRAUN. 

